Items from your clearance: where they go
Items removed by DrClear House Clearance leave the property on one of five routes: reuse, donation, recycling, recovery, or landfill as the last resort. DrClear sorts on site, keeps upholstered seating and electricals out of the general load, and issues a Waste Transfer Note on every clearance. Founder Krzysztof Szczesny leads every job personally.
- Your choice first: items you keep stay, and you decide what happens to items of value.
- Reuse and donation: usable items go on to be used again.
- Recycling and recovery: materials separated for recycling or treatment.
- Landfill last: only what no other route takes.
Items you keep, and items of value
Anything you mark to keep stays in the property. Mark it on your photographs when you ask for a quote, and tell the team on the day.
Items of value stay your decision. You choose whether they are offset against the fee, the proceeds are passed to you, or the items are disposed of. DrClear does not pick the route for you.
Personal paperwork, photographs and items of value found during a clearance are set aside for the family before anything is removed. Valuables such as medals and jewellery go into secure storage and are returned to the executor before the general clearance begins.
Reuse and donation
Usable items go on to be used again. DrClear’s charity relationships are:
- Acorns Children’s Hospice (registered charity 700859): donation partner
- Edward’s Trust (registered charity 1105370): corporate partner
- Birmingham Dogs Home (registered charity 222436): business patron
Recycling
Electrical items are kept out of the general load, in line with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013. That covers fridges, freezers, washing machines, cookers and televisions.
Recovery and destruction
Some items leave the property on a route of their own, kept apart from everything else.
Upholstered seating
Upholstered seating is kept out of the general load, never compacted with it, and goes for destruction at a facility authorised to accept it. Environment Agency guidance requires this for waste domestic seating containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and it rules out landfill. The guidance covers sofas, sofa beds, armchairs, recliners, kitchen and dining chairs, upholstered garden furniture, stools, footstools, office chairs, futons, bean bags and cushions. A wooden chair with no upholstery falls outside it.
Upholstered seating in reusable condition can be passed on for reuse, and the receiving charity decides whether it meets its fire safety label requirements. Waste upholstered seating goes for destruction, never to landfill.
Paperwork and data-bearing devices
Personal documents, financial records and sensitive paperwork found during a clearance are segregated and destroyed, never discarded with general waste. DrClear can provide confirmation of secure disposal on request. DrClear removes data-bearing devices from the property and physically destroys them in-house, so the contents cannot be recovered.
Landfill as the last resort
Landfill takes only what reuse, donation, recycling and recovery cannot. Across all the material DrClear collects, measured by volume, the result is 95% landfill diversion. The counting rules page explains how that figure is measured and what it includes.
Your Waste Transfer Note records the waste transferred from your clearance, giving you a documented record of the waste transfer to support your duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
5 Churchfields Rd, Wednesbury
- Booked for full clearance of a one bed flat and garden clearance (excessive weed growth). Was available very quickly after visiting to quote which helped us massively!
Clearance was done to a high standard and extremely quick! The 3 man crew were very … More polite and friendly
Would recommend to anyone needing their services
Frequently asked questions
Do my sofas and armchairs get recycled?
No. Waste upholstered seating goes for destruction at an authorised facility, as Environment Agency guidance on persistent organic pollutants requires. DrClear keeps sofas, armchairs and other upholstered seating out of the general load and never compacts them with it. The guidance forbids landfill and recycling for this waste.
What happens to fridges and washing machines?
Fridges, freezers, washing machines and other electricals travel separately from the general load, in line with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013. DrClear holds Environment Agency upper-tier waste carrier registration. Include every appliance in your photographs so the quote covers them.
Can I choose what happens to valuable items?
Yes. The decision is yours, and DrClear does not set a default. You choose whether items of value are offset against the clearance fee, sold with the proceeds passed to you, or disposed of. Mention them when you send photographs for your free quote, so the written price reflects your choice.
Get a free photo quote
Send photographs of the property to [email protected] or call 07958 429751, Mon-Sun 08:00-21:00. Krzysztof Szczesny leads every job, and every item leaves on a route you can ask about.